No one steps up to post Donald Trump’s bond

New York — Donald Trump has so far been unable to obtain a bond that would allow him to appeal a $454m judgment against the former US president in a New York civil fraud case without posting the full amount himself, his lawyers said on Monday.

Trump must either find the cash or post a bond to prevent the state’s authorities from seizing his properties, while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron’s February 16 decision ordering him and co-defendants to pay $464m in penalties and interest for misstating property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

In a court filing on Monday, the Republican presidential candidate’s lawyers urged a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment, arguing the amount was excessive.

They said the defendants had so far approached 30 surety companies through four separate brokers to obtain a bond.

“Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on Defendants,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

The lawyers asked that he instead be allowed to post a $100m bond while he appeals the judgment. A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses his appeal and proves unable to pay.

Trump’s lawyers included a statement by Gary Giulietti, an executive with insurance brokerage the Lockton Companies, which Trump has hired to help get a bond.

Giulietti wrote that a bond for the full $464m “is not possible under the circumstances presented”, noting that many sureties would not issue bonds above $100m and were willing to accept only cash or securities — not real estate — as collateral.

Trump denied wrongdoing in the case, which was brought by New York attorney-general Letitia James in New York state court in Manhattan.

Trump earlier this month posted a $91.6m bond to cover an $83.3m defamation verdict for the writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals, in a case that arose from him branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago.

Reuters